Honorary Doctor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Zaven Khachaturian is widely recognized as the “father” of modern Alzheimer’s disease research. His scientific interest in brain mechanism of memory and his academic career in brain research began in the late 1950s at Yale University. In the span of subsequent decades, he has served in high-level positions in academia, private sector and government.

During his tenure at the National Institutes of Health (1977-1995), with the dual role of director, Office of Alzheimer’s Disease, NIH, and director, Neuroscience of Aging Program,NIA/NIH, he had responsibilities for strategic planning and decisions regarding government policies for funding-administering major national programs of research on Alzheimer’s disease and brain aging. He was responsible for launching major national research programs. He was also instrumental in making Alzheimer’s disease a top priority of the government and the subsequent unlocking of federal funding for research.

Throughout his career he has served as mentor to countless investigators. He had a direct hand in launching the scientific-academic calling careers of many prominent and successful researchers in the field of dementia-Alzheimer syndrome in the U.S. as well as other countries.

As the emeritus Founding Editor-in-Chief of Alzheimer’s & Dementia, which is now the top-rated journal for dementia, he continues to serve as a deeply committed mentor to successive generations of scientists.